historywikiaorg-20200223-history
Livonian Crusade
The Livonian Crusade refers to the German and Danish success of medieval Livonia, the domain constituting present day Latvia and Estonia, amid the Northern Crusades. The terrains on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea were the last corners of Europe to be Christianized. On 2 February 1207, in the regions vanquished, a ministerial state called Terra Mariana was built up as a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, and broadcasted by Pope Innocent III in 1215 as a subject of the Holy See. After the accomplishment of the crusade, the German-and Danish-involved domain was isolated into six medieval realms by William of Modena. History War against Livs and Latgalians (1198–1209) , ca 1200. - http://wikipedia.org]] Christianity had come to Latvia with the Swedes in the ninth century and the Danes in the eleventh. When German dealers started to touch base in the second 50% of the twelfth century to exchange along the antiquated Daugava-Dnieper course to Byzantium, numerous Latvians had as of now been sanctified through water. Meinhard of Segeberg touched base in Livland (as it was named in German) in 1184 with the mission of changing over the agnostic Livonians, and was blessed as its cleric in 1186. The indigenous Livonians (Livs), who had been paying tribute to the East Slavic Principality of Polotsk, and were regularly under assault by their southern neighbors the Semigallians, at initially considered the Low Germans (Saxons) to be helpful associates. The principal unmistakable Livonian to be changed over was their pioneer Caupo of Turaida, who was sanctified through water around 1189. Pope Celestine III required a campaign against pagans in Northern Europe in 1193. At the point when quiet method for change neglected to deliver results, the restless Meinhard plotted to change over the Livonians persuasively, yet was defeated. He kicked the bucket in 1196, having fizzled his main goal. His selected substitution, diocesan Berthold of Hanover, touched base with a huge unforeseen of crusaders in 1198. In no time subsequently, while riding in front of his troops in fight, Berthold was encompassed and killed, and his strengths vanquished. To vindicate Berthold's annihilation, Pope Innocent III issued a bull announcing a campaign against the Livonians. Albrecht von Buxthoeven, sanctified as minister in 1199, arrived the next year with an expansive constrain, and built up Riga as the seat of his bishopric in 1201. In 1202 he framed the Livonian Brothers of the Sword to help in the transformation of the agnostics to Christianity and, all the more significantly, to ensure German exchange and secure German control over trade. As the German hold fixed, the Livonians and their initiated boss opposed the crusaders. Caupo's powers were vanquished at Turaida in 1206, and the Livonians were proclaimed to be changed over. Caupo along these lines remained an associate of the crusaders until his demise in the Battle of St. Matthew's Day in 1217. By 1208 the vital Daugava exchanging posts of Salaspils (Holme), Koknese (Kokenhusen) and Sēlpils (Selburg) had been assumed control as a consequence of Albert's vivacious battling. Around the same time, the leaders of the Latgalian provinces Tālava, Satekle, and Autine set up military collusions with the Order, and development started on both Cēsis (Wenden) manor and a stone palace in Koknese, where the Daugava and Pērse streams meet, supplanting the wooden mansion of the Latgalians. In 1209 Albert, driving the powers of the Order, caught the capital of the Latgalian realm of Jersika, and took the wife of the ruler Visvaldis hostage. Visvaldis was compelled to present his kingdom to Albert as an award to the Archbishopric of Riga, and got back just a segment of it as a fief. Tālava, debilitated in wars with Estonians and Russians, turned into a vassal state of the Archbishopric of Riga in 1214, and in 1224 was at last isolated between the Archbishopric and the Order. War against Estonians (1208–1227) ]] By 1208 the Crusaders were sufficiently solid to start operations against the Estonians, who were around then isolated into eight noteworthy and seven littler Counties, drove by seniors, with restricted co-operation between them. With the assistance of the recently changed over nearby tribes of Livs and Latgalians, the crusaders started strikes into Sakala and Ugaunia in Southern Estonia. The Estonian tribes wildly opposed the assaults from Riga and periodically sacked domains controlled by the crusaders. In 1208–27, war gatherings of the diverse sides rampaged through Livonia, Latgalia, and other Estonian provinces, with the Livs, Latgalians and Russians of the Republic of Novgorod serving differently as partners of both crusaders and Estonians. Hill forts, which were the key focuses of Estonian provinces, were assaulted, caught, and re-caught various times. A détente between the war-fatigued sides was built up for a long time (1213–1215). It demonstrated for the most part more good to the Germans, who solidified their political position, while the Estonians were not able add to their arrangement of free collusions into an incorporated state. They were driven by Lembitu of Lehola, the senior of Sackalia, who by 1211 had go to the consideration of German recorders as the focal figure of the Estonian resistance. The Livonian pioneer Caupo was slaughtered in the Battle of St. Matthew's Day close Viljandi (Fellin) on September 21, 1217, however Lembitu was likewise killed, and the fight was a devastating annihilation for the Estonians. falling from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse, 1219.]] The Christian kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden were additionally energetic for development on the eastern shores of the Baltic. In 1218 Albert approached King Valdemar II of Denmark for help, however Valdemar rather masterminded an arrangement with the Order. The ruler was triumphant in the Battle of Lyndanisse in Revelia in 1219, to which the inception of the Dannebrog is credited. He along these lines established the post Castrum Danorum, which was unsuccessfully assaulted by the Estonians in 1220 and 1223. Ruler John I of Sweden attempted to build up a Swedish vicinity in the region of Wiek, however his troops were crushed by the Oeselians in the Battle of Lihula in 1220. Revelia, Harrien, and Vironia, the entire of northern Estonia, tumbled to Danish control. Amid the uprising of 1223, every single Christian fortification in Estonia spare Tallinn fell into Estonian hands, with their shields executed. By 1224 the majority of the bigger fortifications were reconquered by the crusaders, with the exception of Tharbata, which was safeguarded by a decided Estonian army and 200 Russian soldiers of fortune. The pioneer of the Russian troops was Vyachko, to whom the Novgorod Republic had guaranteed the post and its encompassing terrains "on the off chance that he could vanquish them for himself". Tharbata was at last caught by the crusaders in August 1224 and every one of its safeguards slaughtered. Ahead of schedule in 1224 Emperor Frederick II had reported at Catania that Livonia, Prussia, Sambia and various neighboring regions would from this time forward be viewed as reichsfrei, that is, subordinate straightforwardly to the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire just, rather than being under the purview of nearby rulers. Toward the end of the year Pope Honorius III reported the arrangement of Bishop William of Modena as papal legate for Livonia, Prussia, and different nations. In 1224 the Livonian Brothers of the Sword built up their base camp at Fellin (Viljandi) in Sackalia, where the dividers of the Master's manor are as yet standing. Different fortifications included Wenden (Cēsis), Segewold (Sigulda), and Ascheraden (Aizkraukle). The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia, one of the best medieval stories, was composed likely as a report for William of Modena, giving him the historical backdrop of the Church in Livonia up to his time. It relates how in 1226, in the fortress Tarwanpe, William of Modena effectively interceded a peace between the Germans, the Danes and the Vironians. War against Saaremaa (1206–1261) , Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek and Oeselians at National Archives of Sweden]] The last Estonian province to hold out against the trespassers was the island nation of Saaremaa (Ösel), whose war armadas had kept on assaulting Denmark and Sweden amid the years of battling against the German crusaders. In 1206, a Danish armed force drove by ruler Valdemar II and Andreas, the Bishop of Lund, arrived on Saaremaa and endeavored to build up a fortification, without achievement. In 1216 the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the minister Theodorich united and attacked Saaremaa over the solidified ocean. The Oeselians struck back by striking German-held regions in Latvia the accompanying spring. In 1220 a Swedish armed force drove by ruler John I of Sweden and the cleric Karl of Linköping caught Lihula in Rotalia in Western Estonia. The Oeselians assaulted the Swedish fortification later that year and murdered the whole battalion, including the Bishop of Linköping. In 1222, the Danish lord Valdemar II endeavored a second triumph of Saaremaa, this time setting up a stone fortification lodging a solid battalion. The fortification was assaulted and surrendered inside of five days, the Danish battalion coming back to Revel while leaving Bishop Albert of Riga's sibling Theodoric and others behind as prisoners for peace. The mansion was leveled by the Oeselians. In 1227, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the town of Riga, and the Bishop of Riga sorted out a joined assault against Saaremaa. After the surrender of two noteworthy Oeselian fortresses, Muhu and Valjala, the Oeselians formally acknowledged Christianity. After the annihilation of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in the Battle of Saule in 1236 battling again broke out on Saaremaa. In 1241 the Oeselians by and by acknowledged Christianity by marking bargains with the Livonian Order's Master Andreas de Velven and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek. This was trailed by an arrangement marked in 1255 by the Master of the Order, Anno Sangerhausenn, and, in the interest of the Oeselians, senior citizens whose names were phonetically translated by Latin recorders as Ylle, Culle, Enu, Muntelene, Tappete, Yalde, Melete, and Cake. The arrangement conceded the Oeselians a few unmistakable rights with respect to the proprietorship and legacy of area, the social request, and the act of religion. Fighting emitted in 1261 as the Oeselians yet again revoked Christianity and executed every one of the Germans on the island. A peace settlement was marked after the united powers of the Livonian Order, the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, and Danish Estonia, including terrain Estonians and Latvians, vanquished the Oeselians by catching their fortress at Kaarma. Before long, the Livonian Order set up a stone fortress at Pöide. On July 24, 1343, the Oeselians emerged once more, slaughtering every one of the Germans on the island, suffocating every one of the pastors, and blockading the Livonian Order's stronghold at Pöide. After the battalion surrendered the Oeselians slaughtered the shields and obliterated the manor. In February 1344 Burchard von Dreileben drove a crusade over the solidified ocean to Saaremaa. The Oeselians' fortification was vanquished and their pioneer Vesse was hanged. In the early spring of 1345, the following effort of the Livonian Order finished with a settlement specified in the Chronicle of Hermann von Wartberge and the Novgorod First Chronicle. Saaremaa remained the vassal of the expert of the Livonian Order and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek until 1559. Wars against Curonians and Semigallians (1219–1290) , ca. 1260.]] Following the defeat of the Estonians, the crusade moved against the Curonians (1242–1267) and Semigallians (1219–1290), Baltic tribes living to the south and west of the Daugava river and closely allied with the Samogitians. After the defeat in the Battle of Saule by Samogitians and Semigallians, the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were reorganised in 1237, as a subdivision of the Teutonic Order and became known as the Livonian Order. The Battle of Durbe was another victory of Samogitians and allied Curonians over the united forces of Livonian and Teutonic Orders in 1260. The Crusaders finally overpowered the Curonians in 1267, and despite suffering a severe defeat in the Battle of Garoza in 1287, the Semigallians also in 1290. The unconquered southern parts of their territories (Sidrabe, Rakte, Ceklis, Megava etc.) were united under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Aftermath After the victory, all staying neighborhood agnostics were apparently Christianized albeit no Christian writing or church services got to be accessible in local dialects until the Protestant Reformation period in the sixteenth century. The winners maintained military control through their system of palaces all through Estonia and Latvia. The area was separated into six feodal territories by Papal Legate William of Modena: Archbishopric of Riga, Bishopric of Courland, Bishopric of Dorpat, Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, the grounds ruled by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and Dominum directum of King of Denmark, the Duchy of Estonia. In 1227 the Livonian Brothers of the Sword vanquished all Danish domains in Northern Estonia. After the Battle of Saule the surviving individuals from the Brothers of the Sword converged into the Teutonic Order of Prussia in 1237 and got to be known as Livonian Order. On 7 June 1238 by the Treaty of Stensby the Teutonic knights gave back the Duchy of Estonia to Valdemar II, until in 1346, after St. George's Night Uprising, the grounds were sold back to the request and turned out to be a piece of the Ordenstaat Battles *Battle of Riga (1203) *Battle of Koknese (1205) *Battle of Salaspils (1206) *Battle of Turaida (1206) *Battle of Saaremaa, 1206 *Battle of Koknese (1208) *Battle of Otepää (1208) *Battle of Jersika, 1209 *Battle of Otepää (1210) *Battle of Cēsis (1210) *Battle of Ümera, 1210 *Battle of Turaida (1211) *Battle of Viljandi, 1211 *Battle of Lehola, 1215 *Battle of Riga (1215) *Battle of Soontagan, 1215 *Battle of Otepää, 1217 *Battle of Soontagan, 1217 *Battle of St. Matthew's Day, 1217 *Battle of Lyndanisse, 1219 *Siege of Mežotne, 1219 *Battle of Lihula, 1220 *Siege of Tallinn, 1221 *Battle of Soela, 1223 *Battle of the Ümera River Bridge, 1223 *Battle of Viljandi (1223) *Siege of Tallinn (1223) *Siege of Tartu, 1224 *Battle of Muhu, 1227 *Siege of Aizkraukle (1229) *Battle of Saule, 1236 *Battle of Durbe, 1260 *Siege of Tērvete (1259) *Battle of Tērvete (1270) *Siege of Dobele (1279) *Battle of Tērvete (1280) *Siege of Dobele (1281) *Battle of Riga (1281) *Battle of Tērvete (1281) *Battle of Garoza 1287 *Battle of Dobele (1290) See also *Chronicle of Henry of Livonia *Wendish Crusade *Ikšķile *Baltic paganism Category:Estonia Category:Livonia Category:Sweden Category:Denmark Category:13th-century Crusades Category:Livonian Crusade